My RCH Portal Terms of Use

1. Introduction

My RCH Portal enables patients to access certain aspects of the Royal Children's Hospital's (RCH) electronic medical record as determined by RCH in its absolute discretion.

These RCH terms of use as amended from time to time (Terms), describe the rights and responsibilities you accept as a user of My RCH Portal in exchange for the RCH granting you a My RCH Portal account and, in so doing, access to My RCH Portal. The Terms apply to you whether you are a patient or the patient's proxy. By creating a My RCH Portal account and/or accessing My RCH Portal, you agree to be bound by these Terms.

The RCH may change, add or remove any of the functionality of the My RCH Portal, or make changes to these Terms at any time. If those changes affect your rights and responsibilities, the RCH will notify you and you will be asked to accept new terms of use. If you are notified of new terms of use, you must accept the new terms before you will be able to access your My RCH Portal account.

The My RCH Portal is not a tool for requesting or receiving urgent medical attention. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 000 or visit your nearest hospital.

Information provided on the My RCH Portal is not a substitute for medical care by a qualified healthcare professional. Do not delay or disregard medical consultations because of information provided on the My RCH Portal.

In these Terms, 'you' and 'your' refer to both you as a patient account holder and you as a proxy account holder.

2. Eligibility

Access to the My RCH Portal is determined by the RCH based on the age and cognitive ability of the patient and as required by law.

In general, subject to clause 2.4:

2.1 a patient's parent or guardian has sole access to their child's information through the My RCH Portal as a 'proxy' up until the child is 12 years old;

2.2 once a patient turns 12 they are entitled to access some of their information directly via the My RCH Portal. At the same time the parent or guardian's automatic access to their child's My RCH Portal information becomes more limited, and the patient may request their clinician to remove the proxy from the My RCH Portal and the clinician may agree to that request in their absolute discretion;

2.3 from 16 years of age, only the patient will have direct access to their My RCH Portal;

2.4 the parent or guardian of a cognitively impaired child or young person will have full access to their child's My RCH Portal for so long as their child is a patient at the RCH.

In all cases, if you are the patient's 'proxy', you will need to request access to the patient's My RCH Portal, and if the patient is 16 years old, you will require the consent of the patient in most circumstances.

A patient may have more than one proxy.

Granting ‘proxy’ access to My RCH Portal is at the discretion of the RCH. Proxy access can only be granted to parents, or people with parental responsibility as per a court order, if the RCH determines that it is appropriate in all the circumstances and in the child’s best interests. In circumstances where there is information to indicate that accessing a My RCH Portal proxy account might pose a risk to the child or any other person or is not otherwise appropriate in all the circumstances, the RCH will not grant ‘proxy’ access or will revoke existing ‘proxy’ access held by the parents or people with parental responsibility. The names of people applying for proxy access may be disclosed to other people who hold parental responsibility for the child. By accepting these Terms you consent to this disclosure.

By accepting these Terms, you are accepting the eligibility framework determined by the RCH in its absolute discretion subject always to law and as amended by the RCH from time to time.

3. Your responsibilities

3.1 Access and use

In accessing and using the My RCH Portal, you understand and agree to the following, you must:

not access or seek to access any other person's My RCH Portal account;

not permit any other person to use your username or password;

keep your username and password secure at all times and not disclose your password to anyone else;

regularly change your password;

if you are a proxy, inform RCH immediately if you become aware that you are no longer entitled by law to access the patient's My RCH Portal;

advise RCH immediately if you suspect that the security of your My RCH Portal account may have been compromised (e.g. your password or username has been lost or stolen) Please contact the IT help desk on 9345 6277

ensure your personal details are accurate and kept up to date within the My RCH Portal;

ensure that your computer system and processes are sufficiently secure to ensure that your My RCH Portal account is not inadvertently disclosed to or accessed by unauthorised persons; and

satisfy yourself that your access to the My RCH Portal on any shared or public computer is consistent with your privacy requirements.

3.2 Appropriate use

You must not post or transmit via the My RCH Portal any unlawful, defamatory, obscene, offensive or scandalous material, or any material that constitutes or encourages conduct that would contravene any law.

You are responsible for any use of your My RCH Portal account using your username and/or password, whether or not that use was authorised by you.

You understand and agree that your access to and usage of the My RCH Portal will be recorded and may be subject to audit and/or review by the RCH, its servants and/or agents.

4. Parents /guardians

If you are accessing a proxy account for the patient, you warrant that you are legally entitled to access the patient's My RCH Portal.

If your legal relationship with a patient changes and you are no longer legally entitled to access the patient's medical information, you must immediately:

4.1 inform the RCH so that your access can be de-activated; and

4.2 stop using your My RCH Portal account.

5. Data

5.1 Accessing information not available on the My RCH Portal

If you as patient or proxy would like access to any part of the medical record that is not accessible in the My RCH Portal, you can request that information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982.

5.2 Accuracy and integrity of data

If you believe any information displayed in the My RCH Portal is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, you are encouraged to discuss this with your treating clinician at your next visit or to write to Health Information Services outlining your concern.

6. Deactivation

The RCH may lock, suspend or terminate your access or account at any time or for any reason in its sole and absolute discretion, including without limitation, as follows:

6.1 Misuse

The RCH may lock, suspend or terminate your access or account at any time if you breach any of these Terms.

6.2 Inactive

The RCH may lock, suspend or terminate your access or account if you have not accessed the account for 18 months.

6.3 No longer a patient

The RCH may lock, suspend or terminate your access or account if you have not received any health care services at the RCH for a 12 month period.

6.4 By user

A patient may terminate the legal guardians / parent account at any time by using the customer service message or contacting the RCH.

A patient who is more than 12 years old, but less than 16 years old, may ask their clinician to alter their proxy's access to the My RCH Portal and the clinician may determine in their absolute discretion whether or not to initiate the process to effect that change.

Parent or guardian access to the My RCH Portal will be automatically terminated when a patient turns 16, unless the patient gives express written permission for continued access, or the clinician confirms that the patient is intellectually impaired, or there are other lawful reasons why this is necessary.

6.5 Reactivation

If your account is deactivated for any reason, you may apply to reactivate your account by contacting RCH at myrchportal@rch.org.au

7. Email communications

If you select email in your preference list tab within the activated account, you:

will be notified via email when new results, messages, or other communication is available to be viewed in the My RCH Portal;

consent to receive electronic messages from the RCH using your email address; and

are responsible for ensuring that the email address specified in your My RCH Portal account is up to date at all times.

8. Privacy

The RCH will treat any personal or health information provided by you via the My RCH Portal in accordance with its privacy policy as amended from time to time.

9. Security

You are responsible for ensuring that the computer system you use to access the My RCH Portal has appropriate security controls enabled.

10. Disclaimer

The My RCH Portal (including material on the Portal is made available to you on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis and at your own risk. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the RCH makes no representation, provides no express warranty or guarantee, and excludes all liability and any implied warranties (whether implied by statute or otherwise) in connection with:

the provision and availability of the My RCH Portal or your use of the My RCH Portal or any other linked website;

the functionality, features and performance of the My RCH Portal (the RCH may withdraw, suspend or discontinue any functionality or feature at any time);

the legality or suitability of the My RCH Portal or any services provided through it;

the My RCH Portal title and non-infringement of third party rights;

the security of the My RCH Portal or any linked site, or the safety of any file or software associated with them (such as safety from any virus or defects including those which could damage or interfere with your data, hardware or software);

merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement of third party intellectual property rights;

the My RCH Portal being provided error-free or without interruption (including without limitation the availability of internet connections or other telecommunications systems); or

the accessibility, accuracy, quality, currency or reliability of the My RCH Portal or any linked site, or of any RCH or third party materials, information, products or services promoted or accessed via the My RCH Portal or any linked site.

11. Limitation of liability and indemnity

The RCH shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, incidental, special or punitive losses, costs, expenses or damages (Losses) whether in contract, tort or otherwise (including negligence) arising out of or in connection with the My RCH Portal, related services and products, content or information contained within the My RCH Portal or any linked site, or the RCH's performance or non-performance of its obligations under these Terms, even if the RCH has been advised of the possibility of that damage.

To the extent permitted by law you agree that in the event of any problem with the My RCH Portal, any services provided in connection with the My RCH Portal or any dealings between you and the RCH:

your sole remedy is to cease using the My RCH Portal or any information, materials, or services provided to, or accessed by you, in connection with the My RCH Portal;

you release the RCH and hold the RCH harmless from any and all claims, demands, and damages of every kind and nature (including, without limitation, actual, special, incidental, consequential, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed) arising out of or in any way connected with your use of the My RCH Portal; and

you waive the provisions of any law limiting or prohibiting a limitation and release as set out in this clause.

You agree to indemnify the RCH for any Losses claimed by any party in relation to your use of the My RCH Portal in breach of these Terms.

12. Intellectual Property

The My RCH Portal and any content made available on it are owned by the RCH or its third party licensors, and are protected by Australian and international copyright and other intellectual property laws.

13. General

These Terms as amended by the RCH from time to time in its absolute discretion, constitute the entire agreement between the RCH and you in connection with the My RCH Portal.

If any of element of these Terms is held to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal for any reason, the remaining part or parts of the Terms will continue in full force.

These Terms are governed by the laws in force in the State of Victoria, Australia. By visiting and using the My RCH Portal you unconditionally submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of Victoria and all courts with jurisdiction to hear appeals from those courts.